Obsession, Insomnia, and Other Hazardous Materials
by StillFallingAngel
Summary: Parapines AU: Dipper's not obsessed. Really. So what if he hasn't slept, eaten, changed, or left his and Norman's apartment in days... It's not that big a deal. Norman thinks otherwise.


**Disclaimer: I do NOT own Gravity Falls, Coraline, or ParaNorman. If I did, Parapines would be canon and MY big four would all be best friends.**

**Main Pairing: Norman/Dipper (Parapines)**

**Warnings: Slash**

Obsession, Insomnia, and Other Hazardous Materials

Dipper Pines usually loved mysteries. Really. It was a big reason why he started SPIRIT in the first place. So he could live his life doing what he loved with who he loved. Him, his twin sister Mabel, their badass friend Coraline, and his physic boyfriend Norman traveled all over America to help people with the supernatural. Ghosts were their expertise, though they'd dealt with too many other weird things to name, including leprechauns and dwarfs (Which were not the same thing). They'd given themselves the name SPIRIT, which stood for Supernatural Paranormal Investigative Research Independent Team. (That'd had been a tough fit, but they wanted something ghost-y.) Their lives, especially Dipper's, centered around the unexplained.

But this particular mystery had Dipper so obsessed he hadn't left his nest of crumpled papers and empty coffee cups in three days.

"Died in 1932…" Dipper's brown eyes scanned the old logging book on the cluttered coffee table before flickering over to another stack of papers. "Doesn't make sense…overdose...untreated…" Without his knowledge, the collar of his orange T-shirt migrated into his mouth where he chewed it slowly. He just couldn't figure this one haunting out, no matter how many times he'd gone over his notes and visited the house.

"Dipper…?"

Dipper glanced up and saw Norman standing in their bedroom doorway and rubbing his tired, blue eyes. His spiky hair was even more messy then normal, and his Evil Dead PJ pants were rumpled from sleep. He yawned. "What are you doing up? You said you were going to bed in a half an hour."

Dipper's brow furrowed in obvious confusion. "It's only-"

"It's three in the morning, Dipper. Two hours after you said you'd come to bed."

"Oh…" Dipper shrugged and turned back to the mess of papers in front of him. "Well, give me a few more. Sleep soon." He went to take a swig from his coffee mug, but was disappointed and mildly confused when he realized it was empty.

Norman simply sighed and went back to bed.

…

Mabel, Norman, and Coraline watched Dipper from a safe distance away as he continued to pace and mutter to himself. "Has he been like this the whole time?" Coraline eyed Dipper with a mix of amusement and disbelief, while Mabel sighed in exasperation at her sleep-deprived twin. They'd wanted to go out to eat, but Norman had told them no, saying something about Dipper being a therapist's wet dream. So, they got takeout instead and brought it over. It was currently getting cold on the kitchen table.

"Yep." Norman leaned against the wall, his tattooed arms crossed over his chest. "Ever since the new case in Iowa he hasn't slept, ate anything, and only drinks coffee. Plus, he keeps chewing his shirt. It's getting ridiculous."

"Did he ever get this bad before?" Coraline turned to Mabel, whose eyes hadn't left Dipper. "Maybe we can do something…" She wasn't entirely sure how to handle an insomniac, and thought Mabel would be the best choice out of all of them.

"Only once, but that was when we were twelve and he still hadn't cracked the password on that old laptop. It got destroyed… There's really not a lot we can do; he's too stubborn. He'll either run himself into the ground or he'll crack the case and then get better on his own." Mabel hated seeing her twin like this - all bleary eyed, gaunt, and exhausted. She imagined it was the same for Norman, who'd been dating Dipper since they were sixteen.

"That can't be healthy…" Norman bit his lip ring as he tried to think of something to help. "Could we, like, tie him down or something?"

Coraline snorted. "Save the kinks for when you're alone, please."

Norman flipped her the bird over Mabel's head, scowling when she smirked. "You know that's not what I meant. I'm just worried about him."

"I told you," Mabel sighed again before rolling her eyes and turning away. "He'll get beter on his own, one way or another. Right now, I want to eat that Chinese we got." She sat down at their table and began pulling out the food from the white shopping bag, as if nothing was out of the ordinary. Coraline soon followed her.

Knowing what the answer would be but wanting to try anyway, Norman called out to Dipper, "Hey, you want to eat?"

Dipper didn't even look up from the over-sized book in his lap. "M'fine." He ran a quick hand through his brown hair, musing it even more. It stuck up in all different directions as if defying gravity, even giving Norman a run for his money.

Frowning, Norman left and joined the girls, who were chatting animatedly over food. He sat on Coraline's right and grabbed his own meal, trying to ignore the lukewarm temperature. He cast one last worried look at Dipper, but nothing had changed.

Still, he'd be fine. Mabel said so. Everything was gonna be okay.

...Right?

…

Norman woke to the sound of breaking glass. He shot up in bed, fear for Dipper flaring in his stomach. He threw the covers off his body and rushed into the living room. "Dipper!"

Not there. Not in the living room-

Cursing came from the kitchen. Norman ducked inside, and nearly collapsed in relief when he saw his boyfriend crouched on the floor. "Dipper…" He approached him slowly, as if he was a cornered animal. "Are you okay? I heard something…"

Dipper looked up at Norman, causing the physic to notice just how bad the bags under his eyes were. "I'm sorry about waking you. This stupid mug broke when I tried to pour the coffee." His gaze flickered back down to the broken ceramic and reached forward with shaking hands to pick up the pieces.

"Dipper," Norman murmured. He kneeled next to him and gently grabbed Dipper's cold hands. "Don't worry about it. Why won't you sleep? For me? Please?" He squeezed Dipper's hands, desperately hoping his pleas would work. He couldn't take much more of this and neihter could Dipper.

"I'm fine, you're just overprotective." Dipper fought a painful-looking yawn and tried to stand, but Norman kept him still.

"I don't care if I'm overprotective. Take it from a guy who sees ghosts everywhere. The human body is fragile and you're hurting yourself and therefore me."

"Therefore?" Dipper mumbled. "You must be tired if you just said that." Dipper blinked, seemingly having trouble reopening his eyes. Norman took this as a sign he was winning.

"I am. And so are you. Please sleep. I'll help you with the case tomorrow; it's not going anywhere." Norman wrapped an arm around Dipper's waist to pull him to his feet, carefully avoiding the shattered mug. He let Dipper practically drape himself over Norman, and shuffled them both to their bedroom.

Dipper yawned into his neck and curled his fingers into Norman's black wifebeater. "Well...okay. If it'll make you happy. I mean, I could go (insert yawn here) for at least a few more hours…"

"Of course you could." Norman nodded solemnly, even though Dipper couldn't see it. He laid his boyfriend on their bed and chuckled when Dipper immediately curled into a ball on his side. He crawled in between the covers next to him and threw a bare, tattooed arm over him to keep him there.

"Night, Dip," Norman whispered. He placed a quick kiss to the back of Dipper's head and settled into the pillows, letting sleep take him away.

…

"It's the girl."

"Hm?" Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Norman sat up in bed and squinted in the morning light. Dipper stood in front of him with a broad grin and holding a pinboard that had so many papers on it Norman was surprised there were any trees left in the world.

"It's the girl."

"Gonna need a bit more than that…"

"Don't you see?" At Norman's blank stare, Dipper rolled his eyes and thrust the pinboard under Norman's nose. "That girl ghost you saw? The one who overdosed on opium? She's the child of Rosanna Lerson!"

"The mistress?" Norman yawned. Really, Dipper should know if he wanted coherence then coffee was a must.

"Yeah! She gave birth to Amy, the ghost girl, after having an affair with the maid! Mrs. Green found out, made Rosanna give birth in secret, took the child, and pretended it was hers! She then told Rosanna that Amy died and the maid quit. Everything was fine until the dad found out-"

"Sounds like you got it all figured out." Norman grabbed Dipper's wrist and yanked him back down on their bed, ignoring Dipper's indignant squawk. "Let's sleep some more."

"Sleep? How can you sleep in a time like this! The mystery's solved! Let's go back to Iowa and-"

"Shh…" Norman tightened his arms around the struggling Dipper and rolled them over so Dipper was trapped underneath his body. "We can go back later. Sleep now…."

Dipper grumbled something Norman couldn't hear, but relaxed grudgingly. Just as Norman was about to fall back asleep…

"Guys, we're here!"

"Mabel! Coraline! I solved the mystery!"

Norman groaned into the mattress.

**AN: This is my first Parapines oneshot. Probably not my best, but I had fun writing it. Review!**


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